Review: Fables #134

by Jess Camacho

This is, hands down, the best issue of Fables all year. I genuinely started to tear up a little while reading this. Life, death and everything in between was addressed here and we finally got to see my dear, departed Boy Blue again in what I suspect will be his last appearance ever.

This issue is all exposition. It is an interlude to the Camelot arc and to me, felt like a dedication to the longtime fans of Fables. The issue opens with Bigby Wolf in paradise. He has a massive open woods all to himself. He has enough to chase and fight with and free to do whatever he wants. He can be the monster he was designed to be. We get a glimpse of how happy he is here through his inner monologue. He realizes he’s hungry and goes on a hunt. His hunt gets interrupted by a horn blowing.

The horn is coming from Boy Blue From this point on we get an utterly wonderful conversation about life and death between the two of them. Bigby is dead and Blue is explain where he is and help him with his transition. Bigby remarks that he thought he had the forest to himself and Blue tells him that he probably does because the Gods tend to get the best afterworlds. Bigby has always taken offense to those who praise him for what he is but Blue says to him there’s nothing wrong with what he is. They continue to talk but the scenery changes to all white.

When they are in this all white area Blue tells Bigby that he didn’t like the life he lived. He never wanted to be a hero. He just wanted true love and a happy life. He wanted somewhere to call his own and in this plane he has that. He tells Bigby that he is never coming back. He doesn’t want to. In the one humorous moment, he mentions that he’d like Stinky to stop with the scarves and creepy cult. Its unrealistic since he won’t come back. Bigby questions this. He doesn’t understand how they can just decide to stay or go. Blue explains that he’s the son of the North Wind and the father of the new one. He can do whatever he wants to do.

Fans of Bigby have to love this issue. I did. We really get into his head here. He is torn with this choice. He is happy where he is but Blue explains that bad times are coming and that it will always be that way. Bigby has to decide if he did enough in the old world. Bigby talks about how he was a monster and he was happy about that but the giant “monkey wrench” Snow White arrived and his whole life and purpose changed. A life without her would have been a life not worth living. Unfortunately Blue tells him that he won’t actually find out what he chooses. Since he’s staying he isn’t in touch with that world anymore. He also tells Bigby that going back is not that easy and it will be very hard to deal with.

And then the heavy stuff hits us. Bigby can stay where he is and live a new kind of life. He can let Snow and the cubs go and live on a different plane of existence and let everyone carry on. He could also go back and keep fighting. He doesn’t really understand the point of any of it. Blue tells him it isn’t that simple either. We don’t know what the world’s master plan is and we never will so we can’t assume to understand it. He tells him that he can fight for Snow and the cubs and anything that matters to him and be the monster he was born to be. Now for the waterworks: Blue leaves and Dare enters. Bigby has no idea what happened to his little boy. They walk away into the whiteness to talk and Dare says he’ll tell him everything but wants to know wolf to wolf, if he did the right thing.

I almost cried at this particular part. I had completely forgotten that Bigby wasn’t around to find out what happened to Dare in Toyland. That hit me so hard because of how invested I am in the Bigby/Snow family. The last page, in my opinion, is the best page of any Fables issue ever. Father and son pack leaders walking away to talk about if what the young one did was right. If he lived up to being the leader of the pack. Dare is not coming back. What we have learned from this series is that the big Fables, like Snow White and Goldilocks, will take a lot to kill. Their power lies in what the mundy’s say about them. Snow White was shot in the head and made a full recovery because of who she is. Same with Goldilocks. It took a lot to finally take her down. When baby bear died, mama bear was pregnant again almost immediately. The big stories can’t die. Blue has decided to stay but Bigby’s fate is still up in the air.

That made this issue so wonderful as well. We can speculate two things will happen here. Bigby will come back for his family because of what Dare tells him and because he loves Snow White. The other option is he’ll stay with his son. He won’t leave him alone in this world because he really did die too soon. He may stay and take care of Dare because Snow can handle the others. Personally I think Bigby will come back. I think his fate was left up in the air on purpose. I don’t believe this is a final ending for him. I think Dare was meant to throw us for a curve but I truly think Bigby will come back and make everything right in his family’s lives. He will help save Snow and make sure that Therese continues to go down the right path and be a good queen to Toyland.

Once again the art here was absolutely beautiful but this issue was all about the writing. I will give this a perfect 10 but I would have liked a final answer on Bigby’s fate, especially since it is likely we will not hear much now because Camelot will start back up next month. I am a HUGE fan of Bigby and I need him to come back. I feel like a major part of this series is the relationship between Snow and Bigby and I’m not ready to say goodbye to that.

Jess Camacho is the comic editor of Geeked Out Nation. She likes comics. A LOT. You can find her talking about comics all over the internet. Check out her reviews/features here at GON and her work at Multiversity Comics. Follow her on twitter @CamachoJess or email her at camachojess@geekedoutnation.com